Pirates and Revolution
Pirates played decisive roles in almost every major revolution of the colonial era. Golden Age of Piracy Intro :"Who imagined that in 2009, the world’s governments would be declaring a new War on Pirates? As you read this, the British Royal Navy - backed by the ships of more than two dozen nations, from the US to China - is sailing into Somalian waters to take on men we still picture as parrot-on-the-shoulder pantomime villains. They will soon be fighting Somalian ships and even chasing the pirates onto land, into one of the most broken countries on earth. But behind the arrr-me-hearties oddness of this tale, there is an untold scandal. The people our governments are labeling as “one of the great menace of our times” have an extraordinary story to tell — and some justice on their side. :Pirates have never been quite who we think they are. In the “golden age of piracy” - from 1650 to 1730 - the idea of the pirate as the senseless, savage thief that lingers today was created by the British government in a great propaganda-heave. Many ordinary people believed it was false: pirates were often rescued from the gallows by supportive crowds. Why? What did they see that we can’t? In his book Villains of All nations, the historian Marcus Rediker pores through the evidence to find out. If you became a merchant or navy sailor then - plucked from the docks of London’s East End, young and hungry - you ended up in a floating wooden Hell. You worked all hours on a cramped, half-starved ship, and if you slacked off for a second, the all-powerful captain would whip you with the Cat O’ Nine Tails. If you slacked consistently, you could be thrown overboard. And at the end of months or years of this, you were often cheated of your wages. :Pirates were the first people to rebel against this world. They mutinied against their tyrannical captains - and created a different way of working on the seas. Once they had a ship, the pirates elected their captains, and made all their decisions collectively. "|HuffPo://You Are Being Lied to About Pirates> Piracy and Imperial Colonialism :"The story of the 2009 war on piracy was best summarised by another pirate, who lived and died in the fourth century BC. He was captured and brought to Alexander the Great, who demanded to know “what he meant by keeping possession of the sea.” The pirate smiled, and responded: “What you mean by seizing the whole earth; but because I do it with a petty ship, I am called a robber, while you, who do it with a great fleet, are called emperor.” Once again, our great imperial fleets sail in today - but who is the robber?" : :"At the same time, other European ships have been looting Somalia’s seas of their greatest resource: seafood. We have destroyed our own fish-stocks by over-exploitation - and now we have moved on to theirs. More than $300m worth of tuna, shrimp, lobster and other sea-life is being stolen every year by vast trawlers illegally sailing into Somalia’s unprotected seas. The local fishermen have suddenly lost their livelihoods, and they are starving. Mohammed Hussein, a fisherman in the town of Marka 100km south of Mogadishu, told Reuters: “If nothing is done, there soon won’t be much fish left in our coastal waters.” This is the context in which the men we are calling “pirates” have emerged. Everyone agrees they were ordinary Somalian fishermen who at first took speedboats to try to dissuade the dumpers and trawlers, or at least wage a ‘tax’ on them. They call themselves the Volunteer Coastguard of Somalia - and it’s not hard to see why. In a surreal telephone interview, one of the pirate leaders, Sugule Ali, said their motive was “to stop illegal fishing and dumping in our waters... We don’t consider ourselves sea bandits. We consider sea bandits be those who illegally fish and dump in our seas and dump waste in our seas and carry weapons in our seas.” William Scott would understand those words. No, this doesn’t make hostage-taking justifiable, and yes, some are clearly just gangsters - especially those who have held up World Food Programme supplies. But the “pirates” have the overwhelming support of the local population for a reason. The independent Somalian news-site WardherNews conducted the best research we have into what ordinary Somalis are thinking - and it found 70 percent “strongly supported the piracy as a form of national defence of the country’s territorial waters.” During the revolutionary war in America, George Washington and America’s founding fathers paid pirates to protect America’s territorial waters, because they had no navy or coastguard of their own. Most Americans supported them. Is this so different?" Pirates During the American Revolutionary War (see also American Revolutionary War#Pirates during the Revolution) |HistoryNet.com:/Patton2018/Pirates of the Revolution> :"In fact, America was in a similar situation during the Revolution, when a cash-strapped Congress, unable to launch an effective navy of its own, licensed approximately 1,700 privately owned warships to roam the ocean in quest of British prizes. Essentially legalized pirates, these Revolutionary privateers carried congressional commissions that forbade attacks on neutral shipping and the mistreatment of captives but otherwise gave them free reign to rob and plunder and generated anger and resentment among those serving in the Continental ranks. Privateers also gained a reputation for barbarism in combat that infuriated the British and embarrassed many Americans. :George Washington initiated the enterprise off-handedly during his army’s protracted siege of British-occupied Boston in the fall of 1775. “Finding we were not likely to do much in the land way, I fitted out several privateers, or rather armed vessels, in behalf of the Continent.” With an offer of a percentage of spoils as inducement, the result was a private seaborne insurgency whose ever-widening ravages on enemy commerce ultimately proved instrumental in turning British popular opinion against the war." :"In 1777 the young captain Paul Jones would skipper the 18-gun sloop, Ranger, across the Atlantic with a vow “to draw off the enemy’s attention by attacking their defenseless places,” a plan fulfilled the following spring in his daring hit-and-run raid on the British port of Whitehaven. However, as to his prediction that he “would do infinite damage to their shipping,” it was actually the swarms of privateers he so loathed who came closer to achieving that goal. Indeed, while still skeptical of America’s ability to defeat them on the battlefield, the British were forced to concede one point about rebel privateers that diplomats on the European continent had noted in July 1776: “What is certain on the side of the Americans is their activity at sea and the ships of the crown they are capturing.”" :"Allegations of atrocities committed by an adversary are common in war, of course, and underscore history’s dictum that the truth is colored by perception. What for the privateers was a necessary guerrilla-style of naval battle was, in the British view, “an unmanly way of fighting.”" :"The Continental Navy, notwithstanding the exploits of John Paul Jones, was a non factor in determining the Revolution’s outcome; competition from privateers robbed it of the ships and manpower needed to become a decisive force. The army likewise never did much “in the land way” except hold out long enough for France to make up its mind to formalize an alliance with America. :George Washington, ever the realist, acknowledged early in the conflict that his best strategy was “to sink Britain under the disgrace and expense” of slogging through to victory.... essentially the Continentals won by not losing. :The privateers, by contrast, carried the war to Britain. Their ravages on British trade panicked the public, hammered the economy and humiliated the crown. “We expect to make their merchants sick of a contest in which so much is risked and nothing gained,” Franklin had predicted in early 1776. Thanks to the privateers, Americans were soon encouraged to learn that British businessmen were ready to throw in the towel, urging the king to negotiate “an accommodation with the colonists upon commercial principles.” :The Continental Navy captured 198 enemy vessels all told. As for the privateers, conservative estimates place their haul at 2,300. At least 600 of their prizes were settled in American courts; countless others were tried abroad, retaken by the British or lost somewhere at sea. Edward Stanton Maclay, the first serious chronicler of Revolutionary privateering, wrote in 1898, “It is very much to be regretted that many of the cruises and actions of these craft have not been recorded.” :Maclay was an unabashed cheerleader for his subject. “Had it not been for our privateers, the Stars and Stripes would have been completely swept from the seas.” His counterparts among historians of the Continental Navy have been compelled to be more circumspect. William M. Fowler Jr. ends his book, Rebels Under Sail, on an almost bashful note: “If the Continental Navy had never existed, it is hard to see how the outcome of the Revolution could have been any different.”" Post-Revolution Tensions |Task&Purpose:/Sicard2017/How Pirates Made The US Navy Into The Strongest Sea Force On Earth> :"After breaking with England, American merchant ships were no longer protected by the Royal Navy. The fledgling U.S. government couldn’t raise a Navy but believed it could stave off attacks from Barbary pirates — north African privateers from Algiers, Morocco, Tunis, and Tripoli with loose ties to the Ottoman Empire — through treaties. :While the Moroccan pirates cooperated, Ottoman Algerian leader Dey Mohammed ben-Osman declared war on the United States, capturing a merchant ship in 1784, and offered to assume peaceful relations only if the U.S. government could pay him a tribute. Though the U.S. was able to negotiate a treaty with Morocco in 1786, Congress didn’t have the money to pay off Mohammed, according to records held by the U.S. State Department. :"Desperate to utilize the Mediterranean trade route and protect American ships, the 1794 Congress, at Washington’s urging, authorized the “gradual creation” of the U.S. Navy with a fleet of just six ships. " :"Shortly after, America’s Navy got its first taste of military action against its Revolutionary ally, France, in 1798, when its monarchy fell and the U.S. government stopped paying off its debts from the war. This angered France, along with the fact that the United States and Great Britain settled colonial disputes in the Jay Treaty — a move that France viewed as violating the U.S.’s public commitment to neutrality in the English-French squabble." :"However, the U.S. government was struggling to keep the Barbary states at bay, with financial tributes reaching roughly $1.25 million by 1797. :Congress still fell $140,000 short to Algiers and nearly $150,000 short to Tripoli, according to author Gregory Fremont Barnes’ 2014 book “The Wars of the Barbary Pirates.” By 1801, the stiffed pirates of Tripoli had launched a full-on campaign against the U.S. that would later be deemed the First Barbary War. The war proved the prowess of the Navy’s early officers, particularly Commodore Richard Dale and Capt. Stephen Decatur. Their 1805 victory would mark the first win for the U.S. Navy, with the help of the Marine Corps. But peace would be short-lived." :"Hajji Ali, the new Dey of Algiers, decided that the tribute agreement of his predecessor was insufficient, and launched the Second Barbary War in 1812 — the same year that the United States began warring once more with Great Britain. With its resources spread thin, the U.S. government was forced to table any efforts to confront Algiers or its pirates. :It wasn’t until the Treaty of Ghent was signed in 1814, ending the United States’ last skirmish with England, that the Navy was able to set its sights on Algiers — and an end to Barbary piracy once and for all. Congress officially declared war on Algiers March 3, 1815, after growing the U.S. Navy for three years and placing now-Commodore Decatur at the helm. :After destroying a number of Algerian warships and capturing hundreds of their sailors, Decatur negotiated a prisoner exchange and “called for end to the practices of tribute and ransom,” the State Department reported. The Algerian treaty was officially ratified by the Senate on December 5, 1815. :Although the Barbary pirates would continue to plunder and pillage French ships in the Mediterranean for two more decades, they scarcely dared mess with the U.S. Navy — one of the most aggressive forces on the sea — ever again." |Politifact:/Farley2010/Beck claims Marines were created by Thomas Jefferson to combat Islamic pirates> :"After the Revolutionary War, the Navy and Marines disbanded. The country essentially did without a Navy (and Marines) until the Naval Act of 1794, which called for the construction of six frigates, which were to include a force of Marines. :Why was the Navy re-established? A couple reasons. :According to Marine Corps scholars, one of the principal reasons was that Barbary "corsairs" were harassing and attacking American ships doing trade at Mediterranean ports. The corsairs were essentially North African pirates, and they were Muslims. The Washington Post wrote an interesting story about some of the historical parallels between then and now. So Beck is correct about that." :"A temporary lull in the Barbary conflict delayed implementation of the Naval Act. But in 1797, a new conflict arose on the high seas -- with France. Tensions with France rose during the naval war between France and Britain, with France interfering with a number of American merchant ships. And on July 11, 1798, President John Adams (not Jefferson) signed legislation formally creating the U.S. Marine Corps to help deal with the French. And, in fact, the Marine Corps did participate prominently in the short-lived undeclared "Quasi-War" with France. :After the fighting with France, the conflict with Barbary pirates flared up again. Under Jefferson, the Marine Corps was employed in numerous operations against the pirates and the north African countries that sponsored them. Famously, Marines led an overland assault and captured the city of Derna in Tripoli in 1805 (hence the line in the Marines' Hymn, "the shores of Tripoli")." Post-Revolution Suppression 11 Freedoms That Drunks, Slackers, Prostitutes and Pirates Pioneered—and the Founding Fathers Opposed - Alternet By Thaddeus Russell, March 4, 2015 :"What the Founding Fathers called corruption, depravity, venality and vice, many of us would call freedom." "Non-Marital Sex: sex was remarkably unrestricted and prevalent during the late colonial period, especially in the rapidly expanding cities of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. European observers often remarked on the "astonishing libertinism" of 18th-century America. Lower-class saloons, which filled the early American cities, were the centers of the first American sexual revolution, and prostitutes, who often plied their trade in drinking establishments, were its vanguard. But the Founding Fathers initiated a crackdown on non-marital sex during the War of Independence."" :Homosexuality: "Historians have found evidence of rampant sodomy on buccaneer ships during the Golden Age of Piracy in the early 18th century. The pirates who settled in American port cities helped create something that, were we to see it now, we would call gay liberation. Anyone walking the streets of early American cities might have seen men exposing their penises, the 18th-century trans-Atlantic code for men seeking partners of the same sex." Leisure: "Thomas Jefferson told his daughters. "Determine never to be idle." Benjamin Franklin told Americans that they should work all hours of the day in order to be virtuous." Children's Play: "The pleasure culture of early American cities extended to children, who enjoyed a rapid growth in the manufacturing of toys in the 18th century. Following on the pro-work, anti-leisure ideology of the Founding Fathers, the authors of children's textbooks pummeled their young readers with injunctions to work hard and avoid play." Sports: "John Adams blamed the sensual, aimless culture of a monarchy for "so much Cards and Backgammon; so much Horse Racing and Cockfighting."" Drinking: "Though the Founders did their share of the drinking in early America, in public they attacked the practice during and after the Revolution. Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, James Madison, and Robert Morris were among many of the Founding Fathers who supported excise taxes on alcohol after the Revolution as a means to curb drinking." Racial Integration: "Lower-class taverns -- the ones most frequently attacked by leaders of the new nation -- were the first racially integrated public spaces in America. Black, white, and brown Americans came together through mutual desire centuries before the federal government brought them together by force. Although the law in all the colonies barred blacks from public houses, the law was more often than not ignored by tavern keepers, white patrons, and by free blacks and even slaves. Early court records tell of drinking establishments across the colonies that disregarded the color line.... Occasional attacks by law enforcers did little to stem the inflow of various colors into American taverns. Again, the less "respectable" a public house was, the more likely it was to facilitate the mixing of races." Links Unread http://www.usmm.org/revolution.html - Privateers and Mariners in the Revolutionary War "The 13 Colonies, having declared their Independence, had only 31 ships comprising the Continental Navy. To add to this, they issued Letters of Marque to privately owned, armed merchant ships and Commissions for privateers, which were outfitted as warships to prey on enemy merchant ships. Merchant seamen who manned these ships contributed to the very birth and founding of our Republic." http://www.massar.org/privateers-of-the-revolution/ - Privateers of the Revolution "Privateer: A person who sails under a nation's or state's "Letter of Marque" for the sole purpose of capturing prizes (ocher ships) selling the ship and cargo to make a profit for the men and crews. Only vessels of the enemy are fair game. Privateers sailed two types of vessels: one was well-manned for attacking and capturing the enemy's vessel the other was primarily a cargo ship. Pirate: A person who robs or plunders and commits illegal violence at sea or on the seashore. A pirate owes allegiance to no one but himself and his crew. Vessels of all nations are fair game for the pirate." "The value of privateering for governments lies in the fact that privateers were privately owned vessels. The owners paid the crews, so in the main, it was a "free navy." Governments could interrupt the enemy supply lines and sea commerce at no cost to them except to issue a piece of paper, a Letter of Marque. They did not he to buy, build, rent or outfit my vessel or train, maintain and pay a crew." |USNews://The Unlikely Role of Patriot Pirates> "Newspaper editorials denounced the American "pyrates," and merchants wondered, "Where is the boasted navy of our country?" In fact, the Royal Navy captured or destroyed hundreds of American privateers in bloody mismatches of firepower and seamanship. But the payday was deemed worth the risk. One success, shrugged the Philadelphia financier Robert Morris, an avid investor, "will pay for two, three, or four losses." " "These ambitious mariners ultimately wore down an enemy whose military superiority was strained by the commitments of building a global empire. Benjamin Franklin, America's first emissary to France and a strong supporter of privateering, had no illusions about defeating the Royal Navy, but he aimed to prolong the sea war in order to weaken British resolve. "We expect to make their merchants sick of a contest in which so much is risked and nothing gained."" "The key factor behind privateering's growth from a New England fad to a trans-Atlantic phenomenon, from small-time to big business, was that its lowliest seamen and richest investors pursued it for the same reason—to make money and whip the British, too. In that regard, it opens a window on Revolutionary society that is instantly recognizable to our modern sensibility, for the enterprise blended capitalism and patriotism, selfishness and public service. It was a difficult balance, whose shifts and moral accommodations constitute a basic theme of American life both in 1776 and today." http://www.historynet.com/pirates-of-the-revolution.htm https://www.amrevmuseum.org/read-the-revolution/history/patriot-pirates https://www.usnews.com/news/national/articles/2008/06/27/the-unlikely-role-of-patriot-pirates References Category:Piracy Category:Revolution